9 Amazing Ways Orgasms Benefit Your Health

Having an orgasm is awesome enough on it's own. But having an orgasm while knowing it's keeping your health in tip-top shape? It doesn't get better than that. So whether you choose to get off with your S.O. or simply by yourself (hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do), don't wait long before your next trip to O-town, because you're basically doing your body a huge favor. In fact, here are nine health benefits you'll score each time you...score.

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1. You'll Fend Off That Stuffy Nose

Thanks in part to Mother Nature being unable to make up her damn mind about what season it is, fluctuating temps mean that a lot of people are getting sick right about now. So if you want to avoid coughing up a lung or breathing through a half-plugged nose, go have sex. A study from Wilkes-Barre University in Pennsylvania found that getting busy on a regular basis is connected to higher levels of immunoglobulin A, an antibody that can boost your immune system and protect you from the common cold.

2. You'll Chill the F Out

Fun fact: Whenever you have an orgasm, you release a hormone called oxytocin into the bloodstream, sexologist Beverly Whipple wrote in the book The Orgasm Answer Guide. Not only does oxytocin help you bond with your guy (it's dubbed the "love hormone" for a reason), but it'll also help you not go Rambo on his ass when you're feeling hangry AF and realize that he stole your snack right out of the fridge. So, you see, having an orgasm is really good for everyone involved.

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3. You Might Minimize Your Chances of Getting Breast Cancer

Of course, there's no way to 100 percent prevent breast cancer from happening to you. But research found that oxytocin might prevent breast cancer cells from developing into a tumor. Plus, a study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine revealed that nipple stimulation had the same effect on a woman's brain as genital stimulation did — and study author Barry Komisaruk, Ph.D. suggested that's in part because breast and nipple stimulation can also produce oxytocin. So basically, you're reaping the rewards as soon as foreplay begins.

4. You'll Sleep Better

There's nothing worse than lying in bed wide awake, knowing you have to wake up in four hours. That's why up to 32 percent of women masturbate — it helps them fall asleep, says Whipple. Why? Your blood pressure drops after having an orgasm, and when you combine that with the release of endorphins, which are reported to have a sedative effect, you've got a dream duo that'll quickly send you off to la-la-land (not to be confused with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone's recent musical.)

5. You'll Keep Your Vagina Healthy

Time for a basic science lesson: When you orgasm, blood rushes into your genital tissue. That helps keep the tissue supple and healthy. So orgasms win healthy vagina points right there. But if you have an orgasm while on your period, you could nab bonus points. A study from Yale University found that those who do lower their risk of endometriosis — a uterine condition that occurs when a woman's endometrial tissue grows outside of her uterus, causing painful sex and potentially infertility. All the more reason to not be shy about getting busy during that time of the month.

7. You Might Stop a Migraine In Its Tracks

Next time your head is pounding, ask your guy to...well, you see where I was going with that one. A study of 800 migraine patients found that 43 percent experienced pain relief from their headaches after orgasming, while 18 percent said the symptoms lessened at the exact moment they crossed the finish line. The researchers aren't exactly sure why, but it's likely because of the release of oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin, as all three contribute to pain management.

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8. You'll Feel Smarter

Experiencing a jaw-dropping orgasm doesn't just cause blood flow to increase to your genital tissue — it also sends brain juice straight to your noggin. Researchers from Rutgers University asked women to masturbate while lying in an MRI machine. (Side note: Wouldn't it be kind of cool to be part of this study?) When the female reached orgasm, the machine's measurements showed increased blood flow — and therefore better brain activity — to all parts of her brain. That's pretty impressive, considering mental exercises like crossword puzzles only increase brain activity in localized regions, study author Komisaruk told The Times of London. I mean, I'm all for a good Sudoku puzzle, but it looks like an orgasm will do you one better.

9. ...And You Just Might Live Longer

While a man's orgasm has been studied more extensively in connection to mortality, one researcher was kind enough to take a peek at how often women orgasm and whether that extended their life span. The study is pretty old, but Howard Friedman, Ph.D., cited a marital satisfaction study from 1941 and found that ladies who reported orgasming frequently during orgasm tended to live longer than those who reported being sexually unfulfilled. Now all that's needed is someone to update that research and see how many orgasms women need to be having in order to call it "frequent."

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